


Of All Times To Drop Out Of The Sky, You Chose Now?

by fallenangels22



Series: Defenders Of The........City [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:14:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25927222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallenangels22/pseuds/fallenangels22
Summary: Lance never asked to be chosen as the Blue Paladin, but he's not complaining.Much.What he is complaining about, is that he has to deal with murderous, psychotic magical drug addicts. But hey, just another day in the life of Lance.But, really, is it too hard to wait twenty minutes?
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Defenders Of The........City [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1898911
Comments: 1
Kudos: 41





	Of All Times To Drop Out Of The Sky, You Chose Now?

Twenty minutes left of the school day, and time couldn’t be moving any slower. 

There Lance sat, at a third row desk in his math class, watching the tiny red hand move, taunting him with every second. 

The wait was killing him. 

He should’ve known it was boredom that would do him in. Even with all the dangerous stunts he pulls as the Blue Paladin, defender of the city, it would be boredom that did him in. Lance wondered if Sendak would be upset to find that out. 

Probably. The dude was such a drama queen. He put Lance himself to shame, and that wasn’t a feat achieved by just anyone. 

“Pst,” Hunk whispered, catching Lance’s attention. Hunk sat beside Lance in math, usually not bothering to talk to him unless absolutely necessary. Lance and Hunk were bros, but their math teacher was something out of a low-budget horror film. 

“What?” Lance asked, keeping his tone quiet. He didn’t want their teacher to catch them, lest he put Lance in detention. It was a Friday night, Lance was almost home free. 

“Did you see Keith this morning? I didn’t.” Hunk asked. 

Lance scoffed. “As if I’d know. Keith barely deigns to grace us peasants with his presence.” 

Now that was the question of the hour. 

Where was the mysterious Keith Kogane, Lance’s sworn rival? Ever since the first day of highschool, Lance has always tried to one-up Kogane, failing spectacularly. Keith was always one step ahead of him, which infuriated Lance to no end. 

To be honest, Lance did notice Keith wasn’t present in their joint morning classes, but thought nothing of it. Keith always missed school, usually for one dumb reason or the next. Like, _oh, my space-cat mother went missing,_ or, _I need to find my long-lost adopted brother._ You’d think the guy would come up with believable excuses. 

Up at the front of the class, the teacher moved to start a lesson, no doubt just as boring as the last. It was like the school board purposely hired them just for that one quality. 

“Alright students, we are moving on to—” Their teacher never finished the sentence. Blaring overhead, the school alarm rang, signalling that their school was under yet _another_ Galra attack. 

“The alarm?” Lance’s classmate, James Griffin, asked. 

“Everyone, single file.” Their teacher sighed, pointing towards the door. Every student filed out, just like they did almost every week. 

Unbeknownst to the original builders of the school, the grounds they picked had an unnaturally high concentration of Quintessence, a magical drug-like substance that Zarkon, the city’s resident Crime Lord, had gotten himself addicted to. He even one-upped himself and made his entire Empire dependent on it. 

“I, uh, need to go to the bathroom!” Hunk declared. 

“Now is not the time, Mr. Garrett.” Their teacher scolded, clearly unamused. 

“It’s an emergency.” Hunk pleaded, eyes wide. 

“Mr. Garrett, it’s _always_ an emergency with you. Should I recommend your parents take you to the doctor?” 

“Maybe, but I really, really need to go.” Hunk said. 

Lance nearly face-palmed. Hunk did not just ask to go to the bathroom during a school attack. Of course, their teacher wouldn’t let him go. It was ridiculous, unless he wanted to get fired.

Thinking of excuses, Lance remembered that he was supposed to be fighting Sendak, not standing around in line. See, this was the issue with having a teenager as a superhero. They just didn’t have the schedule. Though, Lance did suppose their benefactor didn’t choose them, the Lions did.

Lance barely had time to think before the screaming started. High pitched and terror-filled. Judging from the reverb, Lance had to guess that it came from the other side of the school. 

Smoke ascended off of the building, producing an overwhelming sound. 

A giant crash came from the other side of the school. Watching in silent horror, Lance could only stare as a laser burst through the glass windows, leaving a clear view of the attacker. Lance was correct in guessing it was Sendak. 

Lance needed to get out there. He couldn’t stand around waiting to be saved, since he was the one _supposed_ to be doing the ‘saving’. 

“I will serve my Emperor to my fullest capabilities, starting with destroying this school.” Sendak’s voice could be heard from their hiding spot. Noticing all the excess damage, Lance could only hope no one was still inside Arus Collegiate. 

“You must not have very many capabilities, then.” Out of nowhere, the Red Paladin dropped out of the sky, in front of Sendak. 

The Red Paladin, Lance’s favorite teammate, was wearing the standard armour they all had. He jumped in front of Sendak _(which was rather stupid if you asked Lance. Did he want to get killed-),_ and pulled out his bayard, which took the form of a sword. The Red Paladin was a fairly good swordsman, as good with a sword as Lance was with a gun. And, that was saying something. People didn’t call the Blue Paladin _the Sharpshooter_ for nothing. 

Red and Sendak went at it for another ten minutes or so, all of which Lance was stuck on the sidelines. Red was holding off on his own pretty well, but he needed help to fully take Sendak down. 

Sendak wasn’t just their run of the mill supervillain. He was a higher up in the Galra Empire, and those usually took some time to defeat. None of the Paladins of Voltron had come close to defeating him by themselves, with only the Black Paladin, their illusive leader, coming close. That day, there had been less limbs than usual on Sendak, and more limbs than usual on the floor. 

Lance tended not to dwell on what that truly meant. Severed limbs was a strictly Star Wars thing. 

“I need to get out of here,” Lance whispered to himself, not noticing the weird look Hunk sent him. 

“Uh, shouldn’t we all leave? I mean, there is a maniac attacking the school.” Lance said, gathering the attention from the cowering students. 

“Yeah, isn’t just standing around here _dangerous_?” Hunk added, helpfully. 

“Yes, I suppose it is. Students, let’s form a line and head to the…” Lance drowned his teacher out. 

Even though he wasn’t visibly wearing his armour currently, he still had access to the powers it granted him. Waiting for the right moment to strike, he breathed down on the ground, causing a thin layer of ice to form. 

When their teacher tried to get them to line up, she slipped a little, her arms flailing slightly. 

Lance took the opportunity. “Everyone scramble! He’s coming our way!” He shrieked, his fakes cries heard by all his classmates. He wasn’t an actor, but that was an Oscar-worthy performance, if he did say so himself. 

The reaction was instantaneous. His classmates were practically falling over themselves, running in opposite directions, up and down the streets. He did feel bad for causing this much panic, but really? It was necessary. 

Taking advantage of the chaos he instigated, Lance ran off, looking for a place to hide. When he found a suitable bush, he transformed. 

He didn’t know what his transformation looked like, but he liked to imagine that it was something out of an anime. A magic girl one, specifically. 

Running back towards the school, this time disguised as the Blue Paladin, he could help Red, and try to make sure he didn’t accidentally get himself killed in the process. Dying, as Lance has figured, must suck. 

Briefly, he wondered where Red even was. 

His question was answered when Red fell from the sky, landing in front of him. On his foot. 

“Really? Out of all the times you could’ve fallen from the sky, you choose now?” Lance whined, as he clutched his injured foot. “When Sendak is on a murder spree?” 

“I’m sorry I’ve inconvenienced you. It’s not like I controlled the velocity or direction I fell in, just so I could land on your foot.” Red deadpanned, voice distorted through his helmet. 

“I wouldn’t put it past you, Red.” 

“You’re right. I did do exactly that.” 

“What?”

Before Lance could think of a suitable retort, Sendak decided to blow up another part of the school. Really, it was a wonder they were even still allowed to go here with all the attacks happening. 

As Lance now knew, most of the adults in the city were incompetent, ignorant, or just plain cowardly. Lance had a list of adults he could trust, and it was fairly short. Only one name. Coran. 

It wasn’t as if Lance’s _parents_ weren’t trustworthy, because they were, it’s just that they _maybesortofdidn’tknowhewasapaladin._ He didn’t want to burden them with that kind of knowledge. Really, how would they react when they found out their son risked his life almost every day? Not well, he’d imagine. 

“You always _inconvenience_ me, Red. I’m used to it by now.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. Is it really so hard to believe?” 

“I don’t know, maybe it is.”

“Maybe you should just—”

“Enough!” The roaring voice of the Black Paladin silenced both Lance and Red, effectively ending their little tif. “We need to focus on beating Sendak.” 

Lance rolled his eyes, and he could imagine Red doing the same. 

“I’m sorry, but if you hadn’t noticed, I was busy fighting Sendak for the last thirty minutes. Alone, might I add.” Red said. 

Black’s shoulders tensed up. “I know, and I’m sorry—” 

“Sup losers.” The elusive Green Paladin had appeared at last. The smallest, and most likely youngest of the five, Green was often underestimated. Most people didn’t know how feisty and badass Green could be. 

There were four of them here now. All that was missing was the Yellow Paladin. 

“Hey, guys.” Lance thought too soon. Yellow was here. Whoopie. 

“So, what’s our plan?” Lance asked. Usually, he’d be down for winging it, but Sendak was a real threat, and minimal casualties were always nice. 

“I think we need to form Voltron.” Black said, gauging the reactions of the other Paladins. 

“Form Voltron?” Red echoed. 

“Yes. I think it’s the only way we can win.” Black reasoned. 

Lance agreed with Black. Forming Voltron _was_ their best bet. Whereas there were five Paladins, there was only one Voltron. A sort of spiritual avatar, created through the combined powers and Lions of all five Paladins. Forming Voltron wasn’t hard, per se, but Lance knew the team tended to choose other options. When they formed Voltron, a psychic link was created. The psychic link thing was generally frowned upon, because _you know,_ the secret identity thing. As far as Lance knew, none of them knew each other’s identities. Allura insisted it was for their own safety, lest one of them be captured. 

When she said that, she really freaked him out. Allura was definitely implying torture, and Lance was just a kid. He shouldn’t be dealing with all of this. He hadn’t realized he was having a panic attack until Red calmed him down.

“I think you’re right,” Lance said, garnering the attention of his fellow teammates. 

“Red, you go from the right, Blue, you follow. Green, you go for the left, Yellow, you follow. I’ll head straight down the middle.” Black motioned. 

Everyone headed into their positions, ready to enact Black’s plan. 

It was simple enough. 

How could they possibly screw this up? 

* * *

They screwed up. 

Big time. 

What was that old saying? Don’t jinx yourself? Well, Lance definitely jinxed himself. Ideally, this wouldn’t be happening right now. Ideally, the simple, yet effective plan Black had laid out would work, and they would all be fine. Not a scratch. 

Lying on the floor, bleeding out, probably near death, Lance wished he had only gotten a measly scratch. Naturally, anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. 

They were inexperienced. They were unable to form Voltron, no matter how hard they tried. 

Green was the first to fall. 

It was a single shot, a laser, that hit her in the back. Leading up to that moment, everything had slowed, as if time itself stood still. Lance watched helplessly as Green collapsed. Lance tried to get over to her, but he couldn’t. He was swarmed with Galra lackeys, the henchmen of Sendak. He tried fighting them as best he could, but he was overwhelmed. He knew, deep down, that Green wasn’t dead. Something big would’ve happened. Green’s Lion would’ve freaked, and her suit would probably be gone, to avoid capture at the Galra’s hands. 

Yellow was next. 

In an almost identical fashion, Yellow was hit.

Non-fatally, for sure this time. A stray shot, hitting him in the leg, only causing him to stop for a moment. Unfortunately, that one moment of hesitation was all they needed to hit him again. The armour they wore protected them from most damage, so Yellow was fine. 

He had to be. 

It was down to the last three, Black, Lance and Red. Naturally, Lance went down before either of them. 

An explosion, of sorts, had been what did him in. He had seen it coming, watched as Sendak threw it towards Red. 

Determined, Lance ran as fast as he could, pushing Red out of the way. Red fell to the side. Lance didn’t get out of the way in time. 

So here he was, bleeding out, likely dying, in a school parking lot. Not exactly where he thought he’d die, but it worked. He always knew school was going to be the death of him. 

It was worth it, though. He’d saved Red, and Red was more important than he was. Red was strong, brave, and skilled. Lance was lazy, clumsy and replaceable. Blue wouldn’t have that much trouble replacing him. 

Even though he didn’t have much energy left, he smiled, content with knowing the world was saved, if only for today. 

“No, no, no,” Lance didn’t notice when Red had found him. 

“Red?” Lance asked, weakly. 

“You’re going to be fine, we’ll just get you back to the Castle, and you’ll be fine.” Red said, his voice wavering. 

“Did we defeat Sendak?” Lance asked, curious. 

“Um, yes actually. Black bitch-slapped him so hard he passed out.” Red said. 

“Serves him right.” Lance laughed, before a violent fit of coughing. 

“Hey, stop that.” Red warned, as if Lance could actually stop his own coughing. 

"Don't you think I tried?" Lance muttered. 

Red tilted his head to the side, in what Lance could only assume was annoyance. 

“Are Green and Yellow...” Lance trailed off. 

“They’re fine, though Green is a little grumpier than usual.” Red explained, trying to keep his voice calm. 

“Heh, figures.” Lance said, his voice sounding weak even to himself. The world was a cruel place, Lance had learned that at a young age. But maybe he wanted to stay in this cruel place, and suffer a bit longer. But that didn’t feel likely, or possible. Lance was going to die, however unfortunate that was. 

He was only 17, dying was not on his to-do list. 

“Red?” Lance asked. The end was near. At least he went out with a bang. 

Literally. 

“Yes?” Red answered, almost immediate. 

“Good night.” 

“What? Blue! No….”

* * *

“He’s healed, and should be perfectly fine!” Coran’s shrill voice was not how he wanted to enter Heaven, but he’ll take what he could get. 

“Ugh, just five more minutes.” Lance cried as the pod opened. His helmet had dark lenses, but even they couldn’t stop the brightness of the lights. 

“Blue? Are you alright?” Black was there. Oh, no did he die too? Aw, that really sucks. Lance kinda liked Black, despite not actually knowing the guy. But, Lance could imagine Black as someone cool, like Takashi Shirogane. 

Glancing around the room, he found he was back at the Castle. 

“Man, I thought dying would be more fun.” Lance complained, still wincing from the lights. 

“I thought you said he was fine!” When did Red get here? Lance had saved Red, and he had the gall to die too? Man, did sacrifices mean nothing to these people?

“Physically, at least.” 

“This is a weird afterlife. You’d think I’d be somewhere more fun, like, I don’t know, a beach or something. This place is just depressing.” Lance groaned. 

“Depressing?” Allura asked. Wait, was she dead too? Wow, that was a bummer. She was pretty chill. “Did you just call my Father’s workplace, depressing?” 

Usually, Lance wouldn’t take the bait. But he was dead, so...what was she going to do about it?

“And boring. You’d think someone as smart as him would think to add a little more colour. But noooo, he had to make everything white.”

Allura frowned, her eyes getting dangerously narrow. 

“Excuse me?” 

“You heard me. Would it kill you to add a little colour?”

Black snuck over to him, leaning down to whisper. “You’re not dead.”

“I’m not what?” Lance shrieked. “I’m not dead?”

“Nope.” Red said, unapologetic. “But you might be soon enough.” 

Looking at Allura, Lance wished he had figured that out before insulting her dead father’s choice of decorum. 

“Ah," Lance looked for the nearest exit. It was closest to Allura. He was screwed. "Shit."


End file.
